The Truth About Lance
by Orange Lantern Tsume
Summary: Lance & Kitty really love each other, but the Bhood might know something about Lance that Kitty SHOULD know. Rogue finds out, but can Kitty be saved? Or will Kitty DIE! LanceKitty. R&R! Ch8 UP!
1. Empty

The Truth About Lance  
  
By Blackheart Syaoran  
  
AUTHOR: This is supposed to be somewhat depressing, with some romance in it just for the fact that Kitty and Lance are the perfect couple.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
Chapter 1: Empty  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Kitty wrapped her arms around Lance, making Rogue roll her eyes. "I love you, Lance."  
  
"I love you too, Kitten," the senior said.  
  
"That Kitty, Lance," Kitty said.  
  
"That was a joke."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Can we start making out now, so that Rogue can get jealous?"  
  
"Sure!"  
  
Kitty and Lance started making out, while Rogue got up and left, feeling more than a little annoyed at her mutation. She walked away from the Institute, into the surrounding trees, and into a dark wooded area.  
  
'Why does Kitty have to torment me like this?' she wondered. 'It's not like I don't feel anything. Lance keeps getting on my nerves, and he just doesn't seem right for Kitty. She's literally much healthier-looking than he is, so pale and gaunt; he looks worse than Pietro.'  
  
Rogue glanced around her, seeing the woods were practically void of forest life. 'And why am I even here? There's no reason for me to keep walking to...' She thought for a long moment, trying to figure out where she was headed. 'Might as well see if the old place is still standing.' She made tracks to the Brotherhood's house.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Logan rolled his eyes when he saw Kitty and Lance sitting on the front steps, making out. He got off his bike and hung his helmet on a handlebar, and then walked to the steps, moving past the couple and faintly registering the lack of scent Lance produced.  
  
Then again, Logan had some other stuff on his mind. He went to Xavier's study, and entered.  
  
"Hello, Logan," Xavier said warmly. "Any news?"  
  
"I went past the boarding house," Logan said. "Place looks deader than a rock. Brotherhood's still there, but otherwise no one even moves around inside."  
  
Xavier seemed puzzled. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I didn't entirely go past it," Logan admitted. "I hung around for a while, and watched everyone. Quicksilver looked like he was strung out on drugs, staggering around, and Toad didn't seem to bright either, all depressed-looking."  
  
"Fred and Wanda?"  
  
"Dukes wasn't there when I was, and the Witch hasn't come back yet."  
  
"Interesting. I wonder if Lance knows anything about it?"  
  
"I don't know about him, Chuck."  
  
"Oh, and why is that?"  
  
Logan cleared his throat. "When I was walking past him an' Kitty on the front steps, I smelled her scent, but he seemed not to have barely any. Like he wasn't even there."  
  
Xavier blinked, perplexed.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
"Jesus," Rogue said, staring at the old boarding house.  
  
The windows were boarded up here and there; the shutters nailed closed; the walls were stained and grimy; the roof was collapsing; shingles had fallen off in large masses.  
  
"I hope that the residents are okay." Rogue gathered up some courage and walked to the front door, knocked. After a few more knocks, and a long wait in which she heard movement inside, mostly someone stumbling towards the door, Pietro opened up.  
  
He blinked several times before speaking. "Rogue?" he asked, his voice sounding weak and strained.  
  
Rogue's turn to blink. "Pietro, what happened to you?"  
  
The other mutant took a deep breath, several times, and Rogue could see how drained of life he was. "Lance."  
  
"What about Lance?"  
  
Pietro shook his head and blinked some more. When he looked at Rogue again, he seemed confused. "Lance who?"  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
Kitty giggled again when Lance kissed her neck. "Lance, like, stop it already!"  
  
"Aw, you know it's funny when you laugh."  
  
"Really, stop!" Kitty pushed him away playfully. He moved to stop her, and she thought for a second she had phased through him. "I'm sorry!"  
  
"Nothing broken," he said, patting his chest. "You didn't do anything."  
  
"I thought I phased for a second there."  
  
"You just slipped a moment, that's all," he said, putting an arm around her. "I'm still here."  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Rogue frowned. "Pietro, stop clowning around. You know what I mean."  
  
"Rogue, I have no idea who this Lance guy you're talking about is."  
  
"He lives here!"  
  
"The only people who live here are me, Toad, and Blob."  
  
Rogue was practically red with agitation. She pulled one glove off. "Drop the act, Pietro, or I'll have to look inside your head."  
  
He instead dropped to the floor, hastily backing away with what little strength he had. "Rogue, please!"  
  
She had had enough: Reaching forward quickly, she grabbed his jaw and drained him, and Pietro collapsed on the floor.  
  
Using his borrowed memory, Rogue began to sort through his mind.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Xavier and Logan slowly approached Kitty and Lance, who were still enjoying themselves on the front steps.  
  
"Hello, Lance," Xavier greeted.  
  
"Hey, Professor."  
  
"I was wondering if you would answer a few questions about the condition of your boarding house, Lance?"  
  
The youth shrugged. "Don't see why not."  
  
"First, who lives there now?"  
  
"Fred, Todd, Pietro, and myself. That's it, really, unless Mystique is there and keeps vanishing or something."  
  
"Second, what kind of a condition is your house in?"  
  
"It's practically collapsed. Any day now."  
  
"I see," Xavier said, processing the statements. "Would you be willing to accept help to have the boarding house repaired?"  
  
"I'm fine, but you can ask the others."  
  
"Thank you for your help, Lance." Xavier and Logan turned and headed back to the study, talking quietly. "Anything?"  
  
"It's like he's invisible to my nose or something," Logan said, shaking his head. "He just isn't there."  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
"It's like he's not real or something," Rogue mumbled. "But why? Lance is real, everyone knows that. He's at the Institute with Kitty right now. Is there another telepath screwing with people's heads again?"  
  
Her questions growing, Rogue left the boarding home and walked back through the forest. She glanced around, wondering if she would find some clue that was always in the movies...  
  
She didn't look where she was going, and she tripped on a root. Cursing as she was about to get up, Rogue felt her heart stop as she spotted the object that was three feet from her face, its shocking words daring her to lie about the truth.  
  
A tombstone, its very old stone wearing away, the carved letters were still readable:  
  
"Here Lies Lance Alvers  
  
1869-1889  
  
Devoted Friend and Beloved Son"  
  
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AUTHOR: My GOD, what have I done?  
  
To find out, READ N REVIEW for The Truth About Lance! 


	2. Phantom

The Truth About Lance  
  
By Blackheart Syaoran  
  
AUTHOR: I hope everyone enjoys the other fics I do in the "Truth" series.  
  
To Rogue: Did you send me the review with a happy face design, or what?  
  
TO Sandoz: You're back, eh?  
  
TO todd fan: You may walk into things? What does that mean?  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Chapter 2: Phantom  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Rogue just lay there on the ground, one her hands and knees, staring blankly at the tombstone. Unless this was some sick joke, Lance had died over a hundred years ago.  
  
'And Kitty's with him!' Instincts taking over, Rogue got up and started running as fast as she could back to the Institute. If Lance was after Kitty, did he want her dead or something? Ghost stories always ended that way, and she didn't want her best friend to end up as a ghost, like Lance maybe was.  
  
'But how do we deal with him? Ghosts are tricky, that's for sure.' Trying to think and run wasn't easy, and Rogue had some distance to cover, and hard problems to solve.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Jean was putting her homework away when the door creaked open. She turned to see who it was, but no one was there. She raised an eyebrow and closed the door with her powers, and then went to her dresser to get a comb for her date with Duncan later.  
  
But as she moved to the dresser, one drawer slowly slid open. Jean stared, wondering if she was somehow using her powers subconsciously. 'I don't really believe that, though.'  
  
Shaking her head, Jean closed the open drawer and accessed the correct one, pulling out her comb and fixing up her hair.  
  
The door handle twitched and rattled for a second. "Who's there?" she demanded.  
  
"What?" Kurt asked through the door. "I didn't do anything!"  
  
"Kurt, was that you trying to scare me?" Jean asked sharply, opening the door to face him.  
  
"What?" Kurt asked, looking confused. "I just got upstairs right when you yelled through the door."  
  
"But then why is my room acting strange?"  
  
"Jean, are you feeling okay?" Kurt asked seriously. "You look like you've seen a ghost."  
  
Jean sighed. "I think there might actually be one here if some other telekinetic isn't goofing around."  
  
"But there are no other telekinetics in the Institute, you know that."  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Lance, you feel cold," Kitty said, putting the back of her hand to his forehead.  
  
"I don't feel strange when I'm around you, Kitty," he grinned, scratching her back.  
  
Kitty couldn't help giggling. "Lance, come on! The others might get angry with us!"  
  
"And we should care because?"  
  
"If the professor gets mad at us, he won't let us see each other at times like this."  
  
Lance looked Kitty deeply in the eyes, as if hypnotizing her. "Kitty, you don't need to worry about anyone but us."  
  
After a silence, Kitty responded mechanically, "I don't need to worry about anyone but us."  
  
Lance smiled.  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
Rogue tried to run faster, but the bushes were tearing her clothes, and it seemed as if the woods had shifted to throw her off course or something.  
  
'Impossible,' she thought. 'The woods don't just shift. There has to be a better explanation. Maybe Lance is just mad at us for not being more accepting of Kitty's relationship. He and the Brotherhood could have cooked up some crazy revenge scheme to spook the daylights out of everyone.'  
  
But as good a theory behind everything as that was, it failed to explain the lack of Lance in Pietro's memory.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
Jean and Kurt went to Xavier's study, finding the professor deep in conversation with Logan.  
  
"Professor, I think there might be a small problem," Jean said.  
  
"We were just discussing a problem, actually," Xavier said.  
  
Jean told Xavier about her room and the strange happenings, and he seemed to pay very close attention.  
  
When she had finished, he said, "Logan has found some oddities as well. It seems that there is something amiss with Lance Alvers."  
  
Jean blinked. "What would that be?"  
  
"He doesn't have a scent," Logan said. "And that isn't right."  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
Lance led Kitty away from the Institute, towards his jeep. She was in a trance, but acted otherwise normal.  
  
"Where are we going, Lance?" she asked, still mechanically.  
  
"Somewhere special, Kitten," he said cryptically, kissing her forehead.  
  
He buckled her in, and started up the jeep. The couple went away from the Institute, to the construction site, and got out.  
  
******************************************************************  
  
Rogue kept running, spotted the Institute as she left the trees.  
  
She had to stop for a moment and rest, completely drained of breath. Her training seemed to have left her, and she couldn't budge until she recovered.  
  
Half staggering through the doors, she collapsed on the steps to the second level.  
  
"Rogue, cripes!" Bobby said, spotting her and helping her up. "What happened?"  
  
"Where's the professor and Kitty?" Rogue asked. "It's important!"  
  
"The professor is with Logan, Kurt, and Jean in his study. Kitty left with Lance about five minutes ago."  
  
"Where?" Rogue demanded, making Bobby jump at the tone of her voice.  
  
"I don't know, he just took her."  
  
"And you let him? What if he hurts her?" Rogue pushed away from Bobby, forcing herself to stand as she ascended the stairs.  
  
"Rogue, I thought you were Kitty's biggest supporter with her relationship?" Bobby asked.  
  
"Not with what I found out about Lance."  
  
Rogue made it to the study, but was too drained to open the doors. Bobby helped her inside, startling the others.  
  
"Rogue, Bobby, what is wrong?" Xavier asked, worried.  
  
"It's Lance!" Rogue said, catching her breath.  
  
"What about him?" Jean asked.  
  
"I found his grave, out near the Brotherhood's place."  
  
"And?"  
  
"He's a ghost or something!" Rogue snapped. "And I think he's after Kitty!"  
  
"Where is Kitty?" Kurt asked, worried about his crush.  
  
Xavier reached out with his mind. "The construction site."  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
Lance stood at the end of the beam, leaning back. Kitty tried to keep her balance as she walked towards him.  
  
"Lance, this isn't funny!" she said. "We could be killed!"  
  
"We won't," Lance said firmly. He leaned back farther, and began falling.  
  
"LANCE!" Kitty screamed, diving after him.  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
AUTHOR: Spooky, and now what next?  
  
READ N REVIEW, and I'll tell you! 


	3. Falling

The Truth About Lance  
  
By Blackheart Syaoran  
  
AUTHOR: THANKS for the reviews, all!  
  
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Chapter 3: Falling  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Kitty couldn't believe what she was seeing: The love of her life, committing suicide without a qualm. Lance had taken a six-story dive off a beam from the building's frame, and was plummeting to his death.  
  
Praying she could stop it, Kitty had jumped off after him, wondering whether they would die together or not.  
  
Her phasing power would save them, and as she caught up, she wrapped her arms around Lance to keep hold of him and keep him phased.  
  
"Don't worry, Kitten," he whispered, the hypnotic voice clearing her mind and sending her will away.  
  
The ground slowed its rush towards them, and Lance held Kitty tightly and he twirled in the air with her, like a roast over a flame, one being turned over and over.  
  
Kitty's mind was drained of free will, succumbing to Lance's wishes.  
  
"Forevermore," Lance whispered into her ear. "We will be together forevermore, twirling so serenely in the darkness, ours very beings as one..."  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
"Can't we go any faster?" Rogue asked. She kept bouncing her leg, impatient to save her best friend from a grisly demise.  
  
"In this traffic? You are joking me," Logan said. "Don't worry. If there's one thing a lot of bad guys do, it's waste time talking. If Lance intends to hurt Kitty, then he'll probably give us time to get there by telling his entire master plan and showing off his ego."  
  
"Gee, that's SO reassuring," Rogue said with more than enough sarcasm.  
  
"Rogue, please," Xavier chided. "I would like a bit more silence to concentrate."  
  
Reaching out was one thing, but mind control was another. Charles Xavier only wanted to try and sway Lance if his goal was Kitty feeling pain.  
  
But as opposed to the first time, when he located them (AN: Previous chapter), Xavier felt a barrier of solid black. He could since Lance's familiar, yet now unfamiliar, aura, but the boy's mind was shrouded so greatly that Xavier was blind to it.  
  
"I can't feel Lance's mind very well; his goals are sealed," Xavier told the others.  
  
"And Kitty?" Rogue asked.  
  
Xavier reached out again, sensing a brief flash of powerful, terror- stricken pink flash from within the black. But as strong as the burst from Kitty had been, it died down, consumed by shadows...  
  
"I don't know," Xavier told Rogue heavily.  
  
Rogue said nothing, turning to look out the windshield at what lay ahead.  
  
'Whatever happens, Lance, you won't get Kitty,' Rogue promised herself.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Free will was everything in a matter as critical as this, Lance knew for a fact. As he watched Kitty's sleeping, ramrod straight form hover above the ground, he worked out the finest details in his plan, his mission.  
  
The mutant gene was unforeseen, and he knew it would prove a bigger problem than he had ever once thought. But the heart was a greater power than any in the universe, no matter what anyone else thought.  
  
After all, the heart, and his very own resolution to find what he craved would make the X-Men look like piddling fools. Then again, he had already done so by faking his own mutant power, simply by wishing it so.  
  
Kitty whimpered softly, and Lance leaned down, kissed her forehead, tracing a finger over one cheek. She was so beautiful, so divine that Lance could only begin to wonder why she was a mere human, mutant evolution be damned.  
  
Humans were frail, really, and Lance had broken a number with his own power. But Kitty had done something to him. He had been on another escapade, when---  
  
Stop thinking, they come.  
  
His mind came to the present, and Lance guided Kitty to the jeep, seating her and securing her in case they had to make a run for it, in the jeep at least.  
  
A grind of wheels as the X-Men entered the construction zone. A smile on his face as Lance started the jeep and hit the gas. A black cloud in the sky as the future became the present forevermore.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"There they are!" Rogue said, jabbing a finger at the jeep that was pulling away from them with mocking ease.  
  
"We'll get it over with here," Logan said matter-of-factly. He gunned the gas and the X-Van slammed into the back of the jeep, causing it to skid forward to a stop.  
  
"Lance!" someone else called.  
  
Rogue and the other X-Men turned, stunned, as the other made the first attack.  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
Kurt wasn't a bad kid, but he hated it when a friend was hurt, and would never let some sick loser like Lance Alvers hurt the only real love he'd ever felt.  
  
Kurt had been teleporting to track the X-Men through Bayville, and he was all too eager to show Lance what happened when you messed with the X-Men.  
  
Appearing on the jeep's hood, Kurt got a glance at the eerie grin Lance sported before reappearing next to Kitty, reaching for the belt buckle to free her---  
  
But Lance was ready, flicking his fingers against Kurt's chest without effort, and Kurt was flung back as if the Blob had thrown him.  
  
'Not possible,' Kurt thought. He looked up from where he had landed and spotted Lance getting out, standing in front of Kitty protectively. As Kurt studied Lance, he came to the senior's eyes, the eyes that should be normal, but weren't.  
  
Lance's eyes were like luminescent crystal, shimmering beautifully, and his pupils were like blazing ice blue crystals. (AN: The first crystals are the whites of the eyes).  
  
"Mein Gott, are you even HUMAN?" Kurt gasped. Even though he looked like a fuzzy blue demon elf thing, Kurt couldn't help but feel freaked by Lance's new self.  
  
"I deserve her, after all this," Lance said softly.  
  
"No you don't!" Rogue shrieked, lashing out at Lance with an ungloved hand.  
  
But instead of draining him like always, she passed right through him. And as she did so, she seemed to pass through a dimension unlike even Kurt's teleportation realm. It was so cold and lonely, with a black crystal forming everything and being highlighted in deep purple.  
  
Eyes rolling up into her head, Rogue collapsed on the ground.  
  
Time passed...  
  
Lance picked Kitty up and kissed her cheek, sending a relaxing feeling through her mind. She wouldn't know her friends' attempt, and wouldn't feel a thing for it, because now she was with him, and they were both happy.  
  
"Just laugh again, Kitten," he asked her softly in the ear. "Just smile again for me, forevermore as we exist."  
  
******************************************************************  
  
AUTHOR: Oops, I think the antihero just won. But for more,  
  
READ N REVIEW! 


	4. Thought

The Truth About Lance  
  
By Blackheart Syaoran  
  
AUTHOR: Sorry for the wait, and thanks for the reviews!  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Chapter 4: Thought  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Kitty groaned and rolled over, blinking her eyes and waking up. "Where am I?"  
  
"The Brotherhood's home. My home," Lance said.  
  
Kitty propped herself up on her arms, looking around. "Is this your room, Lance?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Kitty abruptly changed her emotions, angry at Lance. "Why were you looking around in my head?" she demanded.  
  
"I wasn't---"  
  
"The heck you weren't!"  
  
Lance sighed. "Kitty, I only wanted to make sure you weren't going to freak out when I started doing what I did. It was just a precaution so that no accidents happened."  
  
Kitty got to her feet, quite angry indeed. "What gave you the right to do that, huh? I'm a person, Lance, I have a will of my own!"  
  
"Just like I was a person once."  
  
Kitty blinked, surprised at his words. "What?"  
  
Lance gestured. "This room, everything in it, might be mine, but I myself am not really here. I'm not alive, Kitty, I've been dead ever since 1889. I died when I was twenty, over a hundred years ago."  
  
Kitty couldn't believe what she was hearing. "But why?"  
  
"Why what?"  
  
"Why did you die?"  
  
"It was an accident: I was helping with the farm and I had a scythe with me because I was working in the small wheat field my family had. It was time to come in for lunch, but I tripped and the blade just went right through me. It wasn't very pretty."  
  
Kitty would have cried, but couldn't. "That's so awful."  
  
"I know."  
  
"But why are you still here? Shouldn't you be with the rest of your family in the afterlife or something?"  
  
"I would, but I just can't rest."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because there's something I need. I don't really know what it is, but I think I need you."  
  
Kitty stared at him. "Me? I don't understand."  
  
"I just feel terrible when I try and rest. I need someone to rest with, or at least make me happy enough to rest."  
  
"So that's why you're so attracted to me."  
  
"From the start."  
  
"But why---?"  
  
"Did I go to school? Simple: Advances made in society interested me, and I was still looking for peace. I saw you and I just felt it: You were the one I needed."  
  
"But your time with the Brotherhood, your powers?"  
  
"I faked it all through sheer force of will. The others don't even remember me unless I'm manipulating them. I just wanted to be near you, that's all."  
  
"Lance, that is REALLY, REALLY SWEET, but I don't think it'll work."  
  
"It has so far."  
  
"But that was before you told me everything!"  
  
"There really is no change at all, Kitty, except that you think there is one. So I told you that I'm a ghost. So I want to be with you until I can finally pass on. What's changed?"  
  
"Lance, I'm still alive! You're dead! How could that work between us?"  
  
"It already has, even though you didn't know. Even though I might be a ghost, I'm very much alive, and you always acted that way."  
  
Kitty sat on the bed, head reeling with the talk.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
Rogue groaned loudly and sat up.  
  
"Easy, Stripes," Logan said. "You went through a ride with Lance."  
  
"I'll kill him for that too," Rogue growled.  
  
"I believe that might be very well impossible," Xavier said as he entered with Kurt. "Lance, as you told us, is a ghost. Despite the possible threat he represents to us---and Kitty in particular---he is a phantom, and magic is not in our arsenal."  
  
"So find someone!" Rogue snapped.  
  
"Rogue, I know that you are very upset about what has happened to Kitty, but we do not have the resources needed to deal with supernatural phenomenon. It simply can't be done by our hands yet."  
  
"But, professor, Kitty is still trapped with someone like Lance!" Kurt exclaimed. "He's some kind of monster! I saw it myself!"  
  
"SAW it?" Rogue said. "I actually fell through that psycho!"  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
"Just what exactly do you want from me?" Kitty asked.  
  
"A friend."  
  
"You're kidding. That's it?"  
  
"Why would I want anything else?"  
  
"You don't even want to get inside my pants?"  
  
Lance rolled his eyes. "Kitty, come on. I'm a ghost, not a sex maniac."  
  
"Oh. Sorry."  
  
"It's okay."  
  
"But do I have to die or something? I mean, I'd like to keep living."  
  
"I didn't say anything about you dying. I don't even know if there's anything regarding that in a relationship like this. All I know is that I still want to be with you until I can finally stop roaming this planet."  
  
"Tired of us mere mortals, eh?" Kitty snickered.  
  
Lance whacked her with a pillow. "Oh, grow up."  
  
Kitty whacked him right back, starting the first pillow fight between a mutant and a ghost.  
  
******************************************************************  
  
"You're all nuts," Wanda said, glaring at the others.  
  
"Please?" Rogue and Kurt begged. "We need our daily dose of Kitty back!"  
  
"Like I should care!"  
  
"Wanda, please think about this," Xavier said.  
  
"We'll give you five bucks," Logan said.  
  
"No!"  
  
"Ten?"  
  
"Twelve?" Rogue asked, pulling out her two dollars.  
  
"Twenty?" Kurt said, producing his wallet, but not a movie.  
  
The door opened to the foyer, and somebody entered the mansion. Everyone went quiet---and their eyes widened in total surprise when Kitty walked by cheerfully, heading up to her room.  
  
"See?" Wanda said. "Now leave me alone, you lunatics." She got up and left.  
  
"Um, weren't we supposed to rescue Kitty?" Rogue asked.  
  
"To her room!" Kurt said, teleporting himself and his sister.  
  
"Kitty!" Rogue said, getting her friend's attention.  
  
"Yeah?" Kitty asked pleasantly.  
  
"What happened to Lance? How'd you get here?"  
  
"I walked. And as for Lance..."  
  
"Yeah?" the siblings asked eagerly.  
  
"I seriously whooped him in a pillow fight!" Kitty cried, hopping up and down.  
  
"But he was holding you captive!" Kurt said.  
  
"No, he explained everything and I forgave him. He's just lonely."  
  
She started to push the others out of her room. "Now I need to get a shower, so if you would?"  
  
When Kitty had closed the door and locked it, Rogue and Kurt stared at each other.  
  
"She's lost her mind," Rogue said. "That has to be it."  
  
"I'll get the professor and tell him," Kurt said.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
AUTHOR: SORRY for the wait, but I had trouble thinking up any worthwhile material.  
  
READ N REVIEW! 


	5. Heartbreak

The Truth About Lance  
  
By Blackheart Syaoran  
  
AUTHOR: Sorry for the wait, and thanks for the reviews!  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Chapter 5: Heartbreak  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Seriously, professor!" Kurt exclaimed. "Kitty has probably been brainwashed or something! She likes Lance, even though he kidnapped her!"  
  
"Kurt's right!" Rogue said. "Kitty's lost it!"  
  
Xavier sighed. "We should talk about this in the morning---"  
  
"But it's important!" Kurt said. "Kitty's in love with a dead guy!"  
  
"We need to give her some professional help!" Rogue agreed.  
  
Xavier frowned. "It's late, and this is all getting to be too much. We will discuss this tomorrow."  
  
He left his study, and Rogue and Kurt were left to wonder if he even cared.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
Lance wondered if he should even bother staying around the boarding house anymore. The others only knew about him when he put himself into their heads, and the place was virtually a dead zone.  
  
"Maybe Kitty could get a room for the both of us?" he hoped. Better than staying where he was, anyway. As he walked down the hall, Pietro came up the stairs and headed to his own room. Lance passed right through him, and the speedster shivered from the icy feeling.  
  
'Colder than your ego,' Lance thought. 'You always needed to be taught a lesson.'  
  
Fred was making the best sandwich he could, what with the lack of materials. Lance wasn't seen, invisible to these mortals, as he pulled the mustard across the countertop. Fred stared in disbelief before moving it back.  
  
Lance chuckled and pulled some relish out of the jar, flinging it into Fred's ear.  
  
"Who's doing that?" the obese mutant demanded.  
  
Lance laughed hard and long at his pranks.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
Kitty got up in the morning as usual, bright and eager for the day she had planned to have with Lance.  
  
She practically skipped into the bathroom, and DID skip down the stairs to the main floor. Kitty was feeling in very high spirits today.  
  
'And speaking of spirits...' She giggled at her own joke, despite it being kind of stupid. 'Lance needs some aftershave, or do ghosts shave?'  
  
While Kitty was trying to make decisions, the other X-Men had already made them.  
  
"Are you sure this stuff will work?" Jean asked skeptically.  
  
"It says 'Spells to repel the dead'," Amara told her. "And I don't see why we have to do this."  
  
"Duh," Jubilee said. "It's because none of the guys wants to be a wizard, so we have to be witches."  
  
"Besides," Jean said, "we're mutants, so being a witch can't be that bad."  
  
"Wanna bet?" Amara asked.  
  
"I just hope these spells kept everything separated," Jubilee said as they finished up.  
  
"Relax," Jean smirked. "I got that from a very reliable person."  
  
"Jean Grey," Amara said. "Mutant, heroine, witch."  
  
"Shut up."  
  
******************************************************************  
  
"Kitty, could you come in here for a minute?" Scott called.  
  
"Like, what's up?" Kitty asked cheerily.  
  
"Kitty, about your relationship with Lance," Ororo began.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"We think you should break it off," Evan said.  
  
"WHAT?" Kitty gasped. "Why?"  
  
"Because he kidnapped you," Logan said.  
  
"So?"  
  
"So?" Rogue repeated. "The guy might have tried to kill you! Did you even check yourself?"  
  
"Rogue, please don't embarrass the both of us."  
  
"Regardless," Scott said, "you are not allowed to be with Alvers for any reason."  
  
Kitty opened her mouth to protest, paused, and thought up something better. "Then I'll just see Pietro. He's kind of cute."  
  
"What?" Evan said. "You can't! He's mine!"  
  
Everyone gaped at him.  
  
"Not like that!"  
  
"Evan, I think you just ruined sex for all of us," Kitty said. "And I was lying anyway. I doubt I'll ever find Pietro anything more than a self- absorbed jerk."  
  
"Kitty, we are dead serious," Ororo said sternly. "You and Lance may have feelings for one another, but this cannot go on."  
  
Kitty just stared, slowly shaking her head, eyes not moving from the group. "You're lying. You have to be."  
  
"No, Kitty, we mean it," Logan said. "You and him may love each other, but stuff like that always ends up bad."  
  
"It won't happen!" Kitty snapped.  
  
"Kitty, don't act like that," Rogue asked sincerely. "You're my best friend, and I can't stand to see this."  
  
"You look like you're enjoying it!" Kitty said accusingly. "All of you are sick!"  
  
"Kitty, come on," Kurt begged. "There are other guys---"  
  
Kitty sniffed through her sobs. "Like you, Kurt? I think I'd rather be dead."  
  
The others just stared at her.  
  
"And with an entire mansion full of dangerous things," Kitty went on, "I think I might have an accident or something. Like accidentally fall and break my neck on the stairs; or maybe I'll be crushed in the Danger Room; or better yet, I might road pizza from Scott's lousy driving."  
  
"I'm not a bad driver!" Scott protested.  
  
"You are if you can drive me insane!" Kitty shrieked, storming out of the room.  
  
"I hope she doesn't do anything drastic," Kurt said.  
  
"Me too," Rogue nodded.  
  
There was a pause.  
  
"She might commit suicide!" Kurt gasped.  
  
"Would she?" Ororo asked fearfully.  
  
"You know how much she loves Alvers," Scott said.  
  
"I got it!" Evan said.  
  
"What?" Ororo asked.  
  
"We can find her a living boyfriend that she has to get to know! Isn't there that Arcade guy?"  
  
"Kurt's got a good idea," Logan said. "Arcade never moved away."  
  
"I'll get the student directory," Rogue said.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Lance was wearing a tuxedo, all dressed up and ready to pick up his Kitty. He had a smirk on his face as he neared the entrance---and was forced to stop.  
  
It was a good thing he didn't wreck his jeep, or Xavier's little crew would be sorry.  
  
Hovering there in his mind's eye, as plain as day, were characters from the Latin alphabet, warding spells to keep ghosts out.  
  
'No way,' he thought dismally.  
  
They had sealed him outside, and trapped his Kitty within. A classic damsel in distress.  
  
The window on the second floor opened, and Lance saw and heard Kitty cry out, "Lance, save me!"  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
AUTHOR: Oh dear! Kitty's trapped like Repunzle, with Lance the Knight In Shining Armor!  
  
READ N REVIEW! 


	6. Touch

The Truth About Lance  
  
By Blackheart Syaoran  
  
AUTHOR: Thanks for reviewing, all!  
  
********************************************************************  
  
Chapter 6: Touch  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Lance, barred from seeing his woman, had little choice but to return to the boarding house and wait until something happened.  
  
The spirit world had its own set of rules, and he couldn't break those damn barrier spells to keep him and Kitty apart.  
  
Snarling, Lance smashed a lamp.  
  
"EEK!" Todd shrieked, jumping into another room. Lance hadn't made himself visible to the others when he smashed the lamp.  
  
'I cant break, but I can't fucking hold!' he thought savagely. 'I'll never have a friend, and all because of the damn X-Men! Those jerks are the biggest bunch of losers I've ever seen! Not only do they put everyone down, they don't take any blame and they even have the balls to ruin my love life!'  
  
Lance paced around the room, causing the boards to creak without realizing it and sending a chill up Pietro's spine when the other walked by. Lance was furious at his only love real friend being taken from him by a bunch of assholes.  
  
Hooking his fingers into predator's claws, Lance swiped viciously at the wall, tearing five nasty gashes in it. He went into a fury, utterly wrecking the den.  
  
"Wanda, you have to do something!" Pietro pleaded, pushing his sister to the den. Lance was still trashing it in his ire.  
  
"Why should I?"  
  
"Because you're a witch and this place is haunted, baby cakes!" Todd begged.  
  
Wanda ducked a book that Lance chucked at her head.  
  
"Not when the ghost is in a mood like this!" she said.  
  
"It better not be a poltergeist!" Fred said. "Those things are really scary!"  
  
"Watch out!" Todd shrieked.  
  
Everyone scattered at Lance hurled the entire couch at them.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
Kitty hadn't slept a wink all night, staring out the window, leaving it open, hoping Lance would come for her.  
  
Rogue had complained about it being cold with the window open, but Kitty could barely even hear the other girl. She didn't even notice when Jean closed the window with her powers, or when Ororo had said that Kitty would catch her death of cold.  
  
Kitty just stood there, looking and not hearing.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
"Professor, it's worse than we thought," Jean said. "She isn't just lonely for Lance---she's actually becoming depressed because of what we've done."  
  
"I agree," Ororo said. "Kitty didn't even seem to hear what we said. She only stared."  
  
"She didn't even blink," Evan said. "That's not right."  
  
"I'll see what I can do," Xavier promised. "But I have never worked with depressed people before."  
  
"Will she get better?" Kurt asked.  
  
"I can't say," Xavier replied. "Kitty could die from this, as others have."  
  
When he left, Logan growled. "This clenches it. We need to grab Arcade and bring him over here so he can meet his new girlfriend."  
  
"What about Bobby?" Evan suggested. "He's right here at the Institute."  
  
"I don't know," Scott said. "Bobby has a tendency to be a bit psychopathic with his jokes."  
  
"Well, we still have some time left," Rogue said. "It's only eleven AM. We can keep thinking of replacements and maybe even call them or something."  
  
"Let's just hope Kitty doesn't go insane," Jean prayed.  
  
No sooner had she finished speaking when they heard the scream from upstairs.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Kitty couldn't think very good anymore.  
  
She stumbled forward when she turned, and had to crawl across the floor to reach the door to the hallway. She fumbled with the handle, eventually turning it and swinging the door open.  
  
Breathing like a woman going into labor, Kitty slowly got to her hands and knees and then to her feet, taking baby steps to the bathroom. She thought, before she started to lose even that, that she might be better after a shower. And if she were lucky, Lance would come to her, save her.  
  
Kitty had a twisted smile on her face, one more used by a lunatic. Slipping into the bathroom, she tripped and fell into the shower.  
  
She began screaming her head off, because she had turned on the showerhead when she had tried to stop her fall, and cold water was soaking her clothes.  
  
"Kitty!" Kurt gasped, teleporting in. He turned off the shower and pulled her out of the tub, Rogue handing him a towel when she entered.  
  
"We really need to get her some help," Jean said. "I think we should give Arcade a call. He and Kitty are both good with computers." (AN: That's from the comics, actually).  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
"Jesus, what do you want?" Arcade snapped when he picked up the phone.  
  
"Don't talk to me like that!" a girl's voice shot back. "I'm only calling to help someone out!"  
  
"Who ARE you?"  
  
"Jean Grey."  
  
"I'm busy here."  
  
"This is very important."  
  
"Does it relate to technology?"  
  
"A little."  
  
"Then talk."  
  
"My friend, Kitty Pryde, is becoming very depressed---"  
  
"Oh God," Arcade groaned, not caring.  
  
"Look, Arcade, Kitty's is going a little more than clinically insane. We don't want to turn her over to an asylum, and she needs a boyfriend to replace her old one."  
  
"That Alvers psycho? Not a chance."  
  
"Look, you'd be protected from him in the Institute. We have some safeguards."  
  
"Like?"  
  
"Trust me, they're big."  
  
"What's in it for me?"  
  
"If Kitty goes back to normal, you'd get some ass," another voice, a boy, said.  
  
"Evan!" several people yelled. Jean came back on.  
  
"Sorry for that."  
  
"Would I get some ass, though, because I have trouble with girls?"  
  
"I suppose anything's possible."  
  
"Then I'll try and come over, when I have time."  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
Kitty was panting like she'd run a marathon when she entered the Danger Room control center. She didn't recognize any of the machines, but knew they were special, like her.  
  
She liked the sounds made by pressing the buttons, and the pretty lights, and all the ghost things below when she pressed the buttons.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
"Freaky," Evan said.  
  
"It's awful," Rogue added. "I doubt she did it consciously, though."  
  
"Yeah, she's going mad," Kurt nodded.  
  
The Danger Room had been set to resemble a graveyard in the dead of night, no stars, only a moon, with rotting corpses and blood spattered everywhere. A giant, looming headstone rose above all else in the cemetery, devoted to Lance.  
  
"Jesus, she's a junkie for him," Rogue said. "We need to get her help, and really fast."  
  
"Yeah," Kurt agreed.  
  
"I think I might be sick," Evan managed to say before he barfed on a corpse, and then continued to throw up several more times.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
Lance was finally calm enough to have walked from the boarding house to the Institute, working off the stress.  
  
He reminded himself that Kitty preferred his nicer side, and he hoped she would let him in somehow.  
  
But when he got to the gate, the spells were still there---and so was Arcade, strutting up to the doors.  
  
There was only one explanation: He was Lance's replacement, Kitty's new lover.  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
AUTHOR: Geez, I think I might have tarnished Kitty's sweet reputation there. Let me know when you  
  
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	7. Hold

The Truth About Lance  
  
By Blackheart Syaoran  
  
AUTHOR: Thanks for the reviews, sorry for the wait, and here's your Christmas gift!  
  
TO Rogue: I have something much more interesting planned. Oh, and don't forget to check out my other Truth fics once I've written them! (They're about Kitty and Rogue!)  
  
TO The Scribe: You're doing that New Mutants thing again. And I have that Kitty-Bobby idea saved for my upcoming "Truth About Kitty" fic.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Chapter 7: Hold  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Lance couldn't believe this crap. They were replacing him with a total weirdo like Arcade? No way, man, no way! It had to be a dream, it just had to be!  
  
'Why do I always have bad luck, huh?' Lance asked himself. 'First the X- Geeks find out about me, then I have to kidnap Kitty, and now this loser comes to snatch my girl away. Jeez, how much can one ghost take?'  
  
Lance would have promptly entered the home and smashed Arcade's face in, but those wards were still up, and he wasn't getting in anytime soon.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
Arcade looked at them. "Okay, let me get this perfectly straight: You want me to date one of you guys, who has mental issues big time now, so that her old boyfriend doesn't kill her or something?"  
  
"Pretty much," Scott said. "If you do, we'll give you something."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"A private tour of the grounds."  
  
Arcade snorted. "Already seen them. But I do like those games you had on your computer."  
  
"We'll think about it," Jean said. "Look, Arcade, could you just do what we say?"  
  
"What else is in it for me?"  
  
"Other than the technology, you might get Kitty if she likes you," Evan said, nudging the redhead suggestively.  
  
"Can't hurt to try," Arcade said.  
  
"I'll get Kitty," Rogue said, leaving the room and heading upstairs.  
  
"One thing, though," Logan added. "Kitty's been pretty depressed and acting real strange. Seeing things and all that."  
  
"Then I'll be careful."  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
Kitty was sleeping when Rogue came to her, on top of the covers and dressed in her usual attire. She would seem at peace, but being away from Lance was destroying her hear, soul, and mind.  
  
Rogue gently shook her friend awake. "Kitty, wake up."  
  
After helping her friend, Rogue and Kitty went back to the others. Arcade actually thought Kitty was cute, just his type in looks, if not brains.  
  
Jean made introductions, and Scott was picked to drive them---and among the X-Men, to keep an eye on Kitty in case Lance followed the couple.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
They went to the ice rink, and Arcade felt his stomach knot. He SUCKED at skating!  
  
'At least I have a total chick with me,' he reminded himself. He helped his new friend down the steps, apparently because she was weak for some reason or another, and they rested on a bench so she could catch her breath.  
  
"Kitty?" Arcade asked.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"How old are you?"  
  
"Fifteen."  
  
"Same here. That's a good sign for a couple usually."  
  
Kitty sniffed. "Don't flatter yourself. It wasn't my idea to set me up with you."  
  
"Then why did your friends call me?"  
  
"Because they don't approve of me real boyfriend. He's a little too unusual for their tastes, so they're trying to get someone closer to normal."  
  
"Alvers isn't normal?"  
  
"Not entirely."  
  
Arcade thought for a moment. "Kitty, I have to admit that I do find you attractive, so maybe you could just give me a shot. I mean, that Rogue girl is pretty too, but she seems like a loner and I doubt she'd like me."  
  
Kitty stared at him. Her pale face made her look like a vampire staring at its meal.  
  
"You're smart, I know that from the scores I hacked at school. But you're also real good-looking, and that isn't a very often combo. I was hoping a little to maybe go out with you."  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
"Scott to base, Kitten and Gamester are mixing. Repeat, Kitten and Gamester are mixing. Over."  
  
"Roger, Scott. Continue to observe and be wary of Ground Mover. Over."  
  
"Roger. Over and out."  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Lance watched from a safe distance, unseen by Scott, and kept a careful eye on his Kitty.  
  
'Jerks think some egghead can take my spot on Kitty's dance list.' Lance walked around the highest tier of the ice rink, making sure Scott couldn't see him.  
  
Picking up a rock, he tossed it up and down absently as he formulated a plan. And then he had one.  
  
He hurled the rock and---  
  
********************************************************************  
  
Scott gasped when the tree came down, threatening to crush the people skating, but also crushing Kitty and Arcade.  
  
Pulling off his shades, Scott blasted the tree aside, and it was fortunate that no one had seen him. When he looked to see if they were all right, though, they weren't.  
  
Arcade was sprawled to one side, while Kitty was being carried off by Lance.  
  
"Scott to base. Ground Mover has grabbed Kitten! Over!"  
  
"Reinforcements are on the way, Scott!" Jean called back through the walkie- talkie.  
  
Scott ran down the side path Lance had carried Kitty down, but the pair had vanished. He swore, and hurried back to Arcade.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
"Wake up, Pretty Kitty."  
  
Kitty groaned and blinked, slowly coming to. "What happened?"  
  
"Nothing much, except for me rescuing you from some bad people."  
  
"Lance!" Kitty gasped, hugging him immediately. He was still cool, but better than Arcade was with his flirting.  
  
"It's okay, Kitty, I'm fine."  
  
She stopped hugging and looked into his eyes. He was fine, she was certain. And now she was fine too. And together they were happy.  
  
"Why do we always have to be the ones to suffer?" Kitty groaned.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe because it's part of life."  
  
"Life sucks." Kitty started to feel angry. "I don't want to live if I have to suffer!"  
  
Lance had seen this coming. "I know. I could make it go away, but I'd feel guilty."  
  
Kitty stared at him. "You mean we can be together, forever?" she asked hopefully.  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Do it."  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"We should have seen this coming," Rogue said. "Now Kitty's going to do something stupid, I just know it."  
  
"Maybe, maybe not," Kurt said. "We can still try me."  
  
"Kurt, she already gave a negative on that idea," Evan said. "We'd be better of trying to get Kitty and Rogue together."  
  
Everyone looked at him.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Evan, do you have a thing for gay couples or something?" Scott asked.  
  
"I am not gay!"  
  
"Yeah, whatever," Bobby said. "She might like me."  
  
"Well, you DID flirt with her," Jean considered. "It IS possible that Kitty could fall for Bobby."  
  
"Yeah!" Kurt said. "Ghosts are cold, so Lance is cold, and so maybe Kitty has a thing for cold guys!"  
  
"Good theory, but we need more in case that one doesn't work," Logan said.  
  
"Do you think she WOULD go lesbian?" Rogue asked.  
  
Everyone looked at her.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Lance gaped at Kitty. "What? I can't!"  
  
"You said you could!"  
  
"I said I would also feel guilty for ending your life!"  
  
Kitty blinked. "You mean you were going to kill me?"  
  
"Sort of. I was just going to pull your spirit out of your body. It doesn't hurt very much, more like being pulled out of a seat."  
  
"So why won't you do it?"  
  
"Because if I do, then you won't be able to get back into your body."  
  
Kitty thought about it. She opened up her arms and hugged Lance again. "I'll do anything to be with you, Lance. Anything."  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
AUTHOR: I hope this chapter was good, because I was losing focus on it and rambling, so I had to revise it.  
  
READ N REVIEW! 


	8. Fly

The Truth About Lance  
  
By Blackheart Syaoran  
  
AUTHOR: Sorry for the wait and thanks for the reviews!  
  
TO The Scribe: How is it funny with Kurt and Rogue?  
  
TO ALL: This is the last chapter in this fic! After this one I will most likely start The Truth About Rogue!  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Chapter 8: Fly  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Lance knew he should probably chicken out and keep Kitty from making a terrible mistake...but it was what she wanted, and he felt he had to heed her. After all, she was what he was looking for in so many people: Intelligence, beauty, humor, and a powerful spirit.  
  
Kitty was starting to get a little impatient. "Well, do it already!"  
  
Lance smiled. "Sorry. This is going to feel kinda weird."  
  
"I said I'd do whatever it takes to be with the greatest person ever, didn't I?"  
  
"Not in those exact words, no."  
  
Lance had Kitty close her eyes and lay down on the bed. He focused as best he could, concentrating on the bright magenta aura in his mind's eye. Lance had never found out what color his aura was, but maybe Kitty could tell him once she had gone through the event.  
  
He took a deep breath and concentrated harder, getting ready to push Kitty out of her body. He had never done this before, and felt very worried about hurting his love. He'd die again if anything happened to her because of him and his stupid suggestion.  
  
Lance was almost ready to push.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
"This is just great," Jean said sarcastically. "Arcade's out cold, Kitty's vanished and with Lance, and the professor has no way of tracking them."  
  
"Could be worse," Rogue said. "Could be Blob or Toad with her."  
  
"That IS worse," Kurt shivered. "Bad mental image there."  
  
"We need a plan of action," Scott said. "We need to search for them the traditional way: Look."  
  
Ororo shook her head. "Bayville is too big to search that way. He'll be done with her by the time we get anywhere near them."  
  
THE group said nothing for a long moment, contemplating in silence. Scott looked furious at himself and worried for his teammate. Kurt looked depressed his crush was in trouble this deep. Rogue was expressionless. Jean looked unnerved.  
  
Evan bounded into the room, looking hopeful. "Guys, the professor just noticed a huge spike of energy at the Brotherhood house! He thinks Lance might be doing something there!"  
  
"Of course!" Scott said. "He went right back to the start of everything! Hardly anyone would think to look there!"  
  
"We need to get there now!" Jean said.  
  
The X-Men jumped into their vehicles and hauled tail.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Lance was finally ready, his energies summed up as much as possible for this.  
  
Taking a deep breath again, he released the energy, shoving as hard as he could at Kitty's aura. The magenta shrank as it was thrown back, but it didn't dim.  
  
Lance heaved a sigh of relief. Kitty would be just fine.  
  
Kitty groaned and sat up. "I don't think that worked. I have a headache and I'm on the floor." She got up and looked at Lance, who was gasping deep breaths. Kitty was about to ask if he was okay, but then noticed she was standing in something.  
  
Her own body.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
Kitty screamed, and darted toward Lance, staring at the body that lay on the bed. It looked exactly like she did, the same clothes and hair and face.  
  
'But it can't be me, can it?' Kitty asked herself. She tentatively reached forward and gasped slightly when her hand went through her head without her using her powers. "I'm dead."  
  
"Sort of, depending on your point of view," Lance said, getting his breath back. "Your body is dead, but you still have your spirit, your soul, or whatever you want to call it."  
  
"You mean I'm like you now?"  
  
Lance nodded. "Just like me."  
  
Kitty broke into a smile and crushed him with a hug.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
"This doesn't make sense," Jean said. "I felt Kitty in there just a second ago, but she's gone now."  
  
"Let's get in there!" Scott ordered, and Logan charged through the door, breaking it down easily.  
  
The X-Men searched the ground level and basement first, and then worked their way up. They found the Brotherhood passed out cold, and Jean confirmed that they were forced asleep by psychic influence.  
  
"Alvers," Scott growled.  
  
"Guys, I found her!" Rogue called.  
  
Everyone gathered in what was apparently Lance's room, with Kitty sleeping on the bed.  
  
"Jean, anything?" Scott asked.  
  
"No. It's like she isn't there."  
  
"Does that mean she---" Kurt said. He couldn't finish the sentence.  
  
"Only one way to find out," Logan said, taking her pulse. "Bad news, but she isn't breathing either."  
  
"Um, who isn't breathing?" Kitty asked from behind them.  
  
Everyone spun to see Kitty standing there, looking perfectly normal.  
  
"Kitty? But---" Rogue said, gaping.  
  
"What? Is there something in my hair?"  
  
"Half-Pint, why's there a dead body here that looks just like you?" Logan asked.  
  
"Oh, that's mine all right," Kitty confirmed.  
  
"What?" Scott asked, incredulous.  
  
Kitty rolled her eyes. "That---is---my---dead---body. Lance did it for me."  
  
"It's a fake?" Jean asked.  
  
"You tell me."  
  
"It's real all right," Logan said.  
  
"But that means," Evan said. "You're dead?"  
  
"A ghost, yeah," Kitty smirked. "Lance helped me get a push out of my body so I could stay with him forever."  
  
"Are you nuts?" Scott said. "What did you do that for?"  
  
"Because I love him!" Kitty snapped back. "Why do you like Jean? She's just a preppy bimbo that thinks she's queen of the castle!"  
  
"Hey!" Jean said.  
  
"And you jerks claim to be my friends!" Kitty snorted and turned her back. "I suggest you leave before the man of the house comes back."  
  
"Where did Lance go?" Rogue asked.  
  
"Shopping," Kitty answered simply.  
  
"For what?" Logan asked.  
  
"Some stuff we'll need for my funeral."  
  
The others blinked, gaping in total disbelief.  
  
"Your funeral?" Ororo said. "Kitty, you don't need to do this. There must be a way for you and Lance to be together without your death."  
  
"There was," Kitty said bitterly. "But you jerks had to keep ruining it! Even when you thought he was alive, you never gave him any respect. That idea didn't work, so this one will."  
  
"But your family!" Kurt said.  
  
"I'm sure they'll understand," Kitty said. "Once you explain to them how it's all your fault!"  
  
"Actually," Rogue said, "I was always for you two being together."  
  
"I can't be mad at you, Rogue," Kitty said, softening up. "You were my best friend for a good time, even though you blew everything when you found Lance's grave."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"Don't be."  
  
"What about the rest of us?" Logan said.  
  
"You can scat now," Kitty said shortly. "I'll call you if I need anything."  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Kitty's parents were very hurt by the loss of their only child, but had eventually gotten over it when Kitty, Lance, and the X-Men explained everything.  
  
Kitty's mother was rather sad to never see her daughter grow up, but was also happy that Kitty could finally have some peace with her man. Kitty's father was a little cheesed off that he'd never have any grandkids now.  
  
Even though it was a little difficult at times between them, Kitty and Lance always reminded each other what they meant to one another and they were happy again, despite being ghosts.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
Jean groaned and got up in the dead of night. Scott was still snoring away, and the baby was crying loudly. It was a testament to how dense the man was.  
  
Just as Jean reached the door to the nursery, the baby's crying turned to excited giggles. Frowning, Jean entered, switching on the light and finding nothing, not a thing amiss.  
  
The baby, it appeared, was laughing at something directly above it, but Jean couldn't see what.  
  
"Kitty?" Jean asked.  
  
Kitty slowly made herself visible to the human eye. "I thought you'd appreciate me giving the baby a laugh."  
  
"Why are you here? Last I heard, you and Lance were still in Bayville."  
  
"I decided to visit. I only got here a few minutes ago, and was finding a nice place to sleep on the couch when your kid started crying."  
  
Kitty hadn't aged a day since her death, but Jean had grown into a more beautiful, older version of herself.  
  
"I suppose we'll see Lance tomorrow?"  
  
"He's downstairs, actually. He sleeps like a log."  
  
"How odd, because Scott sleeps like the dead."  
  
The two shared a laugh, and Kitty decided to leave the baby with its mother. Jean said good night and put the baby to sleep before returning to Scott and his godforsaken snores.  
  
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AUTHOR: Sorry if it was a little lousy, but that was the best ending I could come up with.  
  
READ N REVIEW! Also, check out my other Truth fics, which should be up soon, starting with Rogue. 


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